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About Batavia Township

Name Origins of Clermont County Communities

CLERMONT is a French word meaning “clear mountains and hills.” This describes the appearance of the county to the first explores and settlers. Clermont County is part of the Virginia Military District, land given to veterans of the American Revolution from Virginia . Since they fought along side Frenchmen there may have been a desire to name it in honor of France ’s aid in winning American independence. The seventh oldest county in Ohio , Clermont County was established December 6, 1800 .

BATAVIA was named after the village. Some of the first settlers were from Batavia , N.Y. It was established on September 5, 1815 , and formed from parts of Ohio and Williamsburg townships. Another story exists that the village received its name from some seamen who were impressed with the village of Batavia on the island of Java . Ezekiel Dimmitt was the first setter in the fall of 1797. George Ely recorded the village plat on October 24, 1814 .

AFTON received its name at the suggestion of Sarah Lytle, daughter of William Lytle. There was a popular song in the 1850s, “Sweet Afton,” and this may be where she got the idea. A post office was established here on January 18, 1849 , with the name of California.

AMELIA was originally called “Milltown” because of the mills built in the area. The name was soon slurred into “ Milton .” When a post office was established here on February 25, 1836 , there already was a Milton post office in Ohio and another name was needed. The village was named in honor of Armillous “Amelia” Bowdoin, the popular operator of the village’s Ohio Turnpike toll gate. The only incorporated village in the county never formally laid out, the first settlers arrived in 1814.

CENTERVILLE was built about the halfway (center) point between Amelia and Olive Branch on the old Centerville Pike (present Amelia-Olive Branch Road ). The village began about 1878.

HAMLET was originally known as the “Yankee Settlement” because the first settlers who arrived in 1814 came from New England . A Mr. Brown later owned a farm that included much of the area and it was known as “Brown’s Farm” for a while. The post office established here on March 21, 1885 , was name Hamlet, “a very small village.”

MOUNT HOLLY may have received its name from Mount Holly , N.J. , from where some of its first settlers arrived. A post office was established here on February 27,1866.

OLIVE BRANCH was originally known as Apple’s Settlement in honor of Andrew Apple who was the first settler here about 1798. The village may have received its present name when a post office was established here on February 12, 1845 . The name possibly denotes the peaceful setting and surroundings of the community.